The Brazen Careerist

0 commentsIt was one of those nights when my husband rolled over to my side of the bed. Usually this is the first step toward the grand maintenance of our fairly normal marriage. But this night was different...

0 commentsWhen the Oscars run (probably overtime) on Sunday, I'll be rooting for Lost in Translation for best picture. Not that I have seen the other competitors, but I loved this particular movie. In fact, I...

0 commentsMaybe it's time to set aside all those "know yourself" advice books and try lying to yourself about who you are. You are a finance whiz. You are a sales guru. You are a brilliant writer.
Any...

0 commentsHow many more investment bankers need to show up in court before people stop incriminating themselves in writing? Email is one of the most convenient ways to be impetuously stupid, so if you are...

0 commentsYour success at work is dependent on your accomplishments, not your ideas. So can everyone please stop being so petty about whose ideas are whose?
A very small number of you are strategists and...

0 commentsFor those of you who cannot shut up about the Super Bowl game, think about your impact on the workplace: A study of Harvard Business School graduates found that in 85 percent of the cases– drum...

0 commentsThe problem with being nice is that it's not very interesting. It's the people with dirt to dish who are magnets at the water cooler. But if you want your boss to like you, give him compliments. I...

0 commentsSure, jobs are scarce, but if you're lucky enough to land one, don't be afraid to negotiate your paycheck. Once a hiring manager chooses you from what is probably the largest pool of candidates she's...

0 commentsFor all of you who are plotting to ditch your company's holiday party, forget it: You have to go. And for all of you who are really excited about the holiday party, you can also forget it: The open...

0 commentsI am four months pregnant. But the baby is dead, inside me, and must be removed. I am devastated. I always knew this could happen, in the back of my mind. But you are never prepared for something...

0 commentsLearning to be a good manager requires that you perform a wide range of tasks, from delegating to coaching to planning. And sometimes it requires you to perform another unpleasant task: firing....

0 commentsBeware of Thanksgiving– the holiday of disaster.
It's the only holiday when everyone in the whole country gets in a car or plane at the same time. It's the only holiday where family members...

0 commentsHere's a way to kill your career: Have a messy office.
These are things that people with messy offices say: My work gets done; I know where everything is; people are too concerned about appearances....

0 commentsIn college I was such an introvert that when I went to parties (I had to be dragged), I brought a book. It was a lonely existence, but the pain of having to talk to people in an unstructured...

0 commentsEach time in my career that I have ignored sexual harassment aimed at me, I have moved up the corporate ladder. For example, the boss who once pulled all senior management out of the company's sexual...

0 commentsLet's abolish the word busy.
When you ask someone, "How have you been?" and they say, "Busy," it doesn't mean anything. I'm sick of it. We all have the same 24 hours to fill. Everyone's are filled...

0 commentsHey, all you college kids! It's time to get off your butts and start applying for jobs. Do not delude yourself into thinking you can wait until next May. Top internships, management training programs...

0 commentsIf you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The thrill of living is that you don't know what's coming. In other words, uncertainty is what...

0 commentsYou might save your company $10 million, but if your boss doesn't know you did it, it will be like it never happened. So you need to manage up– systematically make sure your boss perceives that...

0 commentsWhen you lose your job, the first thing you're supposed to do is leverage your network to find another job. But here's a question I get all the time: "What do I do if everyone in my network is...

0 commentsHere is my current list of people and things I hate. It's an ongoing project that simmers week after week until it reaches boiling point and I have to spend a column venting.
1. People who are not...

0 commentsEveryone stop working right now. Ask yourself these questions:
1. Does my boss like having one-on-one meetings with me?
2. Do my co-workers like going to lunch with me?
If you cannot answer yes to...

0 commentsThe major difference between a millionaire and a working stiff is that the worker uses his job as an excuse for why he's not living his dreams, and a millionaire doesn't have that luxury. So if you...

0 commentsIn the early 1990s, when the job market was as bad as it is today, I had a college degree that was getting me nowhere. So my friend got me a job signing Esther Williams' autograph for fans.
Esther...

0 commentsSuccess in the workplace depends on being a good time manager, because it doesn't matter how good you are at your job if you never have time to do it. Here are the four most important steps you can...

0 commentsThere came a point in my career when my company went bankrupt, the economy was in the dumps, and my network of friends and acquaintances was getting me nowhere. Like all job hunters, I had good days...

0 commentsThe current business climate encourages rule breakers. Not the kind at Enron– those are law breakers. Rule breakers break with convention.
Sallie Krawcheck, for example, was a top stock analyst...

0 commentsThe flair with which you grow and prune your reading pile directly affects your career trajectory. Sure, you can learn from enlisting mentors and taking on new projects, but you can learn with the...

0 commentsIt often seems like you don't have much say about events in your hectic life. But when it comes to your career, there are some areas you can control.
Here are 10 things you can do to help you meet...